Elizabeth Josephine “Betty Jo” Pihringer passed away peacefully on Oct. 1, 2022 at Waterford Memory Care in Waterford.
Betty Jo was born on Dec. 30, 1923 in Burlington to Hieron and Hildegarde (Weinman) Block. The oldest of five children, she was raised on a farm near Honey Lake and attended St. Charles Elementary School and Catholic Central (St. Mary’s) High School. Upon graduating she worked at Murphy Products Company as an administrative assistant before studying at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and graduating with a degree in Economics. She met Charles Pihringer in high school and corresponded with him during WWII. When he returned from the war and she graduated from college, they were married at St. Mary’s Church in Burlington on Sept. 25, 1948 and started a family.
In addition to raising three children, Betty Jo worked at the Burlington Standard Press for a number of years. She served on the board of Burlington Memorial Hospital and also was a member of the Hospital Auxiliary. Family trips took them camping and skiing throughout the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains with their children. She and Charlie traveled often with close friends and enjoyed sailing and tennis. Her favorite pastimes were golf with the Browns Lake Women’s golf league finally retiring at 88 years old, and playing bridge with good friends for many years. She moved to Waterford Assisted Living in 2015 where she was only four miles from the farm on which she grew up.
Betty Jo was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Charles, her brother Jerome Block and her sister Hildegarde Martin. She is survived by sisters Marge Chesher of Oklahoma and Eleanor Ketterhagan of Wisconsin; sister-in-law Mary Block of Burlington; children, Tom Pihringer of Burlington, Mary (Alan) Weingart of Excelsior, Minnesota and Ann (Mark) Leonardelli of Cedarburg; grandchildren, Cara (Mike) Westhouse, Gina (Aaron) Day, Andrew (Katelynn) Weingart and Nathan (Anne) Weingart; great-grandchildren Brayden, Josephine, Emma and Lilian; many nieces and nephews and long-standing friends.
Betty Jo’s life will be celebrated at a Mass for Christian Burial at 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 10 at St. Mary’s Church in Burlington. Visitation will be from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. at Daniels Family Funeral Homes in Burlington.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Catholic Central High School, Burlington.
The family wishes to extend their heartfelt thanks to the staff at Waterford Senior Living and Memory Care where Betty Jo spent the last years of her life enjoying new friends and old, many activities and receiving wonderful care, and to Compassionate Care Hospice.
Well-wishers may visit www.danielsfamilyfuneral.com.
-
-
-
-
-